You’ve probably heard that old joke about parents who are shocked to hear their normally well-behaved child swearing up a blue streak. When they inquire as to where the child has learned such colorful language, the answer is, of course, “From you.” Children are constantly watching and listening. They are constantly learning about the world they live in and how they should behave in that

When students come into your classroom, how do you want them to feel? Happy? Excited? Respected? Safe? All of the above? When you’re putting together anywhere from 15 to 30 different personalities in a classroom, it can be hard to help every student feel so positive. I’m Cait from Cait’s Cool School, and I’m excited to be here with you today to share some of

Hi teachers! I’m Retta from Rainbow City Learning, and I’d love to share some ideas with you about building loyalty in your students as you think about how you’d like your teaching year to go. Thanks so much to Rachel for inviting me back! Loyalty is a feeling of strong support for something or someone. What could be better? Students who support you and what

Hi everyone! My name is Bex, and I am so delighted to be here on Minds in Bloom today with some tips for you on how to set your class up for success with a substitute. Thank you, Rachel, for having me! Teaching is a tough job! It is even tougher when you are sick or when you have to go out to a meeting

Here’s Lessia Bonn, from I am Bullyproof Music, on addressing ADHD with increased kindness and understanding! ADHD: We flit, we float. We sail on quirky boats. We talk about tangerines when you asked us about pumpernickel. Oh jeez. My mom used to groan in my direction, “Look how you get!” I’ve had mud on my face my whole life. ADHD life is disorderly. Squirrels rule

Hey y’all! I am Jacqueline from The Little Ladybug Shop in Houston, Texas. I am so honored and blessed to be invited to write a post for Ms. Rachel Lynette! I have always adored her, and today I feel such joy! So, as we all are heading back to school this time of year, we have millions of things on our minds. Right? Things ranging from setting

Hi there, everyone! My name is Marine Freibrun. Elementary school teacher, mom, wife, and blogger! I am the author of Tales from a Very Busy Teacher. I am so honored and excited to be writing a guest post for Minds in Bloom today! I am sharing TEN positive behavior management tips for the primary classroom with you today. Classroom/behavior management is one of the

Minds in Bloom presents this inspiring post by Jennifer Martinez on using a positive news board in the classroom. Let us know in the comments if you give it a try! Remember Stella? You know, from that movie a few years ago? She lost her groove and took a trip to Jamaica in hopes of finding it again. Ever feel like you’ve lost your

Minds in Bloom is happy to present Jen Bradshaw, the author of TeacherKarma, with her inspiring and informative post. We know you’ll find it useful! Boost learning by teaching students to set their own goals. For the past six years, I have had the opportunity to be a Literacy Coach and RtI (Response to Intervention) Specialist on a kindergarten through fifth grade elementary campus.

Minds in Bloom is happy to introduce our readers to Jennie of A House Called Home with her inspiring post on helping struggling students. I have three daughters. They were each adopted out of foster care around the age of nine. They all had something in common: They hated to work. I heard the excuses as to why they couldn’t do it, and I

Creative Expressions was co-founded by two sisters about one-and-a-half years ago. They produce bilingual products for teachers in the fields of English, Spanish, ESL, and math. Their article about enhancing self-esteem of at-risk students validates their belief that all students can learn under the right circumstances. We have too many students who are at risk, and as teachers we need to help them improve their self-esteem whenever possible. Sometimes, we just

Minds in Bloom is happy to present Terri Izatt from KinderKapers with a guest post on the game Fold the Line. We know you’ll love it! This is an exciting time of year as we are thinking about going back to school and getting to know a new batch of students. How do we build rapport with all these new little (or not-so-little) people?

A week ago, I published a post with ideas about how to handle students how are being mean, rude, and disrespectful to each other. The post began with a question from 4th grade teacher, Jenny Eldridge. The ideas all came from other teachers who stepped up to offer suggestions. A few days after the post went live, I received an awesome (and well written) email from

I often post questions from teachers on my Facebook wall. It is always amazing to see the helpful and insightful answers that other teachers post. A few days ago, a teacher named Jenny Eldridge had a great question. I was so impressed with the answers that I decided to post some of the 52 responses here so that more teachers could benefit. Here is Jenny’s

We all have good days, we all have bad ones, and that is certainly true for your students. However, it is not always easy to pick up on the mood of every student in your class. Here is something fun and simple to try for a week or so to help you to be more in tune with how your students are feeling – and

As educators, we remember and honor our fallen colleagues and their students from Sandy Hook School. We honor them each day in our classrooms in which we continue their dream of teaching our children. We honor their memory with our service. Join with teachers everywhere in committing random acts of kindness to show our love for Sandy Hook.